Personal protective equipment is needed to protect workers in industrial and other work environments, as well as protecting individuals in recreational environments. Typical personal safety protective products include conventional earplugs, earmuffs, respirators, eyewear, and the like, which function to reduce the negative effects of an individual""s exposure to debris, dangerous contaminants, or high noise frequencies.
Many work environments require the use of protective equipment under corporate or other policies for safety reasons. In many cases, the workers do not properly wear the protective equipment. For example, with earplugs, to the casual observer, it appears that these individuals are in compliance with the existing safety rules, when in fact the earplugs are not properly inserted. The wearer is generally not aware that the earplug is not properly inserted and the consequences of improper insertion are that the wearer is exposed to greater levels of noise and greater risks. Even a trained individual, such as a supervisor or health and safety officer, may mistakenly believe that the individual is complying with the existing rules based solely on visual observance. Unless the trained individual closely observes the manner in which the protective equipment is put on the individual, it is difficult to judge whether any individual is in full compliance with existing safety rules.
Accordingly, it has been found to be very difficult to enforce the use of the protective equipment without having spot checks. When an individual is subjected to a spot check, the individual must discontinue working and thus productivity is lost due to the spot check. As the number of spot checks and the number of persons subjected to them increases, productivity will continue to decrease resulting in lower profitability and increasing production times.
The above-discussed and other drawbacks and deficiencies of the prior art are overcome or alleviated by the personal protective devices having an energy-activated material.
A personal protective device is disclosed. The personal protective device comprises at least one energy-activated material, disposed within or on the personal protective device. The energy-activated material reversibly changes at least a portion of the personal protective device from a first visual zone to a second visual zone when the personal protective device is exposed to an activation energy.
An earplug is disclosed. The earplug comprises at least one energy-activated material, disposed within or on the earplug. The energy-activated material reversibly changes at least a portion of the earplug from a first visual zone to a second visual zone when the earplug is exposed to an activation energy.
A pair of earmuffs is disclosed. The pair of earmuffs comprises at least one earmuff. At least one energy-activated material is disposed within or on at least one cushion of the earmuff. The energy-activated material reversibly changes at least a portion of the cushion from a first visual zone to a second visual zone when the cushion is exposed to an activation energy.
A respirator is disclosed. The respirator comprises a respirator having a mask. At least one energy-activated material is disposed within or on the mask. The energy-activated material reversibly changes at least a portion of the mask from a first visual zone to a second visual zone when the mask is exposed to an activation energy.
A pair of eyewear is disclosed. The pair of eyewear comprises at least one energy-activated material, disposed within or on at least one cushion of the eyewear. The energy-activated material reversibly changes at least a portion of the cushion from a first visual zone to a second visual zone when the cushion is exposed to an activation energy.
A method for determining the fit of a personal protective device is disclosed. The method comprises fitting a personal protective device on a wearer. The personal protective device has an energy-activated material on or within the personal protective device. The fit is determined when the energy-activated material reversibly changes from a first visual zone to a second visual zone when the personal protective device is exposed to an activation energy.
The above-discussed and other features and advantages will be appreciated and understood by those skilled in the art from the following detailed description and drawings.
Referring now to the drawings, wherein like elements are numbered alike in the several figures:
FIG. 1(a) is a perspective view of an exemplary earplug;
FIG. 1(b) is a view of an exemplary earplug when initially exposed to activation energy;
FIG. 1(c) is a view of an exemplary earplug changing to a second visual zone when exposed to activation energy;
FIG. 2(a) is a perspective view of an exemplary earplug;
FIG. 2(b) is a view of an exemplary earplug when initially exposed to activation energy;
FIG. 2(c) is a view of an exemplary earplug changing to a second visual zone when exposed to activation energy;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an exemplary earmuff;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an exemplary respirator; and
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an exemplary eyewear.